United States v. Arthur Wilson Cousins, United States of America v. Joe Armenta Gano

Appellants were indicted and tried jointly for possessing merchandise stolen from an interstate shipment, knowing the same to have been stolen. 18 U.S.C. § 659 (Supp. III, 1966), amending 18 U.S. C. § 659 (1964). They make separate contentions on appeal with which we will deal individually. We affirm both convictions.

A shipment of whiskey from Boston was transported in a sealed railroad car to a warehouse of the consignee in Phoenix, Arizona. On October 22, 1967, the car was spotted on a railway spur behind the warehouse, awaiting unloading by the consignee. Early the following day, the seal was broken and 272 cases of whiskey were stolen.

A day or two thereafter, Cousins offered to sell a quantity of liquor “which had just been taken from a railroad car” to Mac Turner, the owner of a bar in Phoenix. Turner, who later reported the offer to the local police, expressed interest in the purchase, and on October 26, Cousins introduced Turner to appellant Gano as one of those who “had the whiskey.” When Turner asked to see a sample of the whiskey, Cousins drove him with Gano to a home which Turner and Gano entered. They returned to the car with a pint of stolen whiskey and, during…